U21 International Football Championship kicks off in Ho Chi Minh City

The 9th International Thanh Nien Newspaper U21 Football Tournament – Clear Men Cup 2015 officially kicked off at Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City on November 20.

Defending champion U21 HAGL (white) suffer a 0-1 loss to U19 RoK (red) in their first clash at Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday.

Defending champion U21 Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) lost 0-1 to the U19 team from the Republic of Korea (RoK) at their first clash.

Young players from the RoK seemed to have a better start as they played, causing difficulties for HAGL.

In the 14th minute, U19 RoK tested HAGL defending with a dangerous header. But just minutes later, the visitors scored the opener as Kim Jeonghwan took advantage of the gap in HAGL’s defensive line to net in the ball in the 25th minute.

Gia Lai strengthened attacks with several tactical changes, but regrettably favourites Cong Phuong, Thanh Tung, and Van Toan missed a range of chances to level the scoring.

Even at the end of the 2nd half, HAGL played half-field as they dominated their guests, but strong defense from U19 RoK stayed firm to protect their 1-0 lead till the end of the match.

Suffering their first loss at the tournament, HAGL need a victory over Myanmar on Tuesday for a hope at the next round.

The same day, U21 Thailand tied 2-2 with U21 Singapore.

On Sunday, another Vietnamese team U21 Thanh Nien Newspaper will play U21 Thailand in Group B.

The tournament gathers six teams divided into two groups including U21 Thanh Nien Newspaper in Group A with U21 Singapore and U21 Thailand. Meanwhile, U21 HAGL are with U21 Myanmar and U19 RoK in Group B. They will play in a round-robin format to select the top two teams in each group for the semifinals.

The champion will walk away with an award of US$12,000, while the runners-up will receive US$7,000 and US$5,000 for the second runners-up. The team with fair-play style will receive an award of US$3,000, while the most valuable player, the best Vietnamese player, the top scorer, the best goalkeeper, and the best referee team will receive bonus of US$500 each.

(Source: nhandan.org.vn)